Trouble
by WolfWillow96
Summary: At fifteen, Elena escapes her protective mafia family. At 21, she's managing a double life as a free lancer agent and college student. But then she gets an assignment that brings her back to her past, it might not be a happy family reunion.
1. Chapter 1

I ducked away and barely escaped a blow from the man's fist when I kicked my leg out. The kick must've hurt because he fell with a cry of pain and held onto his leg. I took advantage of the situation and knocked him out. He was even uglier unconscious. To my left was a container and to my right a drainpipe. It would be too much effort dragging the man all the way to the container and probably impossible to lift him up and throw him in. So I chose to handcuff one arm to the pipe and admired my work. Good job. As I walked away, I pressed number one on my phone.  
After the second ring, Shane picked up.  
''Always a delight to hear from you.''  
''Still thinking I would call you for anything other than work?'' I replied.  
''As I said: a delight.''  
''I've left him hanging on a drainpipe. I'll text you the address.''  
''It's a 'he', again? Why is it never a 'she'?'' He sighed. I could imagine his disappointed face.  
''Remember Ms. Deloro?'' I teased him. Ms. Doloro had been one of the few women I had intercepted, she was almost fifty years old and got a huge crush on Shane, not much to his pleasure. She had about one or two teeth left in her mouth, same for her hair and she claimed to have not showered for over three years. ''That's why.'' And with that, I hung up. One last glance at the man and I was gone, off to my apartment. As I crawled into my bed, I saw three missed calls from Lisa. We had started the night at a party of one of our friends, Jason, but when duty calls, I reply. So I had left them without saying goodbye and completely forgotten about it.

The next morning I had promised to have lunch together with the friends I had left behind. To kind of make it up to them. It was a typical Sunday noon, the sun was shining over the whole town with not a single cloud in the air. When I arrived at our local diner, Lisa and Dan were already there, sitting very closely next to each other. Too close.  
''Am I that late?'' I looked at their coffee's, empty.  
''Oh, no, we were just kind of early.'' Lisa actually started blushing.  
''What happened last night?'' Dan subtly changed the subject. Which made it obvious for me they were seeing each other. Even though I was prepared for that question, it didn't make it any easier lying to them.  
''I felt sick and went home.''  
''Why didn't you say so? We could've driven you!'' Lisa looked honestly offended. Her heart was too big for this world. If only she knew what I did at night.  
''I couldn't find you guys anymore so I walked, it's not that far.''  
With that, everything was solved.

Lisa and Dan were more school friends than real friends. We spoke, we met but we didn't really share any personal information or talked about our problems or insecurities. Sometimes, when me and Lisa were in a good mood we would talk about boys but that's all. I didn't have many friends, none actually, besides Lisa and Dan. But I was okay with that. Maybe I did have one more friend, Shane. Speaking of the devil. ''What are you doing here?'' Shane was leaning against the wall next to the door to my apartment. He had two cups of coffee in one hand and American cookies in the other. ''I came to check up on you.'' As I opened the door, I gave him a confused look. ''Why would you do that? That's something only nice people do. '' I took off my shoes and gestured for him to do the same because they were terribly dirty. ''That catch from last night was so small, I think you're losing your game.'' He said, pushed a coffee in my hands and made himself comfortable on the couch. ''My game?'' I crossed my arms. ''Hmm-mmm.'' His mouth was so full of the cookie he couldn't speak. ''Now speak, what's up with the free goods?'' I asked, holding up the cookie and coffee, still untouched. ''Who said it was free? That goes off your pay check.'' He licked his fingertips off and finally confessed. ''There's a new gang in town, dangerous mafia guys.'' His voice became very serious. ''I don't want you to take the next job.''  
My curiosity took over. ''What is the next job?''  
''They're going to ask you to infiltrate or to at least try and get one of the guys of that mafia.''  
''Wait, you're here unofficially? How badass of you. And stupid because now I have leverage."  
He smiled but it was only half-heartedly.  
''I'm serious! This is one the most dangerous mafia we've ever faced. And we also haven't figured out why they moved here.''  
''What's their name?'' I asked. It had been a long time since a job was that high-risk. And exciting.  
''Classified.'' Shane shrugged.  
''Oh c'mon! You're already doing illegal business now, why stop?''  
''Don't start whining. Now, you're just going to say no and let it slide, okay?''  
At that moment, it was hard to say no. His voice had so much authority in it when he spoke to me like that. ''I'll think about it.'' Was all I said before I shooed him out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

As I was walking to the university, Shane called. I picked up. ''If you tell me the name, I will think about declining the job.'' Was my version of saying hello. Shane sighed on the other side of the line. ''You can be so much trouble sometimes. It's really not that hard to just take my advice sometimes.'' I quickened my pace because I was almost too late for class. ''Your advice? It was more like an order.'' Five minutes left before class started, so I hung up and started running. At noon, I got a message from Shane, saying we should meet at Baristo's, his favorite coffee shop. I smiled as I could taste victory.

The coffee shop was full of students and very loud. Not the right location to have a conversation, unless you didn't want to be overheard or seem suspicious. So for matters as these, such as sharing classified information, it was the perfect place. Shane sat in the far corner, reading a local newspaper, his hair messy and his coffee still steaming. His head suddenly shot up in my direction and a smile appeared on his face. He waved me over and I sat down, without saying a word. It was his time to talk, not mine. ''Oh, so today I get the stubborn you? Awesome. Well, '' he quickly sipped his coffee to stall some time, ''I've decided to let you take a look into the file.'' Even though I was surprised, I didn't show it. I just stuck my hand out for him to hand the file over. ''Now? Don't you have classes in fifteen minutes?'' I rolled my eyes. ''I'll skip them, now give me the damn thing!''

Shane smiled, he had finally got a reaction out of me. ''Good luck that I brought it with me then.''  
And there it was, finally. The thickest file I had ever seen, paperclips and photos stuck out, corners of papers were folded and the front had stains on it. It was almost as if the file was a hundred years old. The first page was a report about a man gone missing and never found. The second about a man murdered. The third showed a friend of the second man, bled to death on the street. The whole file went on like that, every page had a death or a missing person on it and the list didn't seem to stop. There were fathers, gangsters, politicians, students, teenagers, all kinds of people. And every murdered man or woman had detailed pictures of the dead body as how it was found. It was a horrible sight, frightening, to think that one mob could kill so many people. ''You thought these pictures would scare me, didn't you? And that they would convince me to say no.'' Shane pleaded guilty and I couldn't help but laugh. ''I'm proud of you for being sneaky but I'm disappointed that you apparently don't know me.'' Something felt familiar about the pictures though, as if there was something I had already seen, a faint connection. It was then that I noticed something. ''Where's the information about the mafia? About the members?'' I flipped through the pages again to make sure I hadn't just missed it. "I've left that out. In case you decided to go look for them yourself, trying to be a hero.'' I was impressed, it was something I would do. ''Well played.'' I handed the papers back. ''But why shouldn't I take it? It seems like a challenge to me.'' Shane shook his head and sighed. ''Have you not just seen those pictures? Do you really want them to do that to you?''  
''If it's that dangerous, than why are they asking me? They have professional people, who were trained for those things.''  
''They think that you would have more luck and a bigger chance of infiltrating because you're so young and look innocent.''  
Shane had his hands in his hair and looked at me with pleading eyes.  
''It's because I'm a girl!'' I was shocked and astonished.  
''No, of course not!'' He was a terrible liar. ''Elena, listen…''  
''Stop it, they think that because I'm a girl the mafia wouldn't hurt me and that otherwise, I wouldn't even have a chance of catching them.'' If there was one thing I didn't handle well, it was people thinking or telling me I couldn't do something I was sure of I could.  
''Tell them I'm doing it.''  
''What? You just got mad for their reasoning! Why would you-'' I cut Shane off.  
''I'm going to prove them wrong.'' I had made up my mind, I was going to infiltrate and catch those bastards.

After some more pleads of Shane not to do this, I got home and studied for a while. My ultimate goal was to work for the FBI. That's why I was studying criminal justice and I was in my third year. But now, I was even more motivated. For the first time in my career as a freelance agent, I was offered a huge job. This was not just catching a thief or a dealer, it was proving myself to my agency that I could handle life threatening situations. And after that, maybe get a higher rank until I would be 23 and old enough to join the FBI. It was all a dream for now but I hoped it would become reality soon.


	3. Chapter 3

A couple of days later, I was invited to the bureau for a meeting concerning my new task. I was thrilled to finally know who and what I would be up against. As I arrived, Shane was waiting at the door.  
''What are you doing here?'' I asked him.  
''I told them you wouldn't take the case unless I was your partner.'' I couldn't believe it.  
''You did what?'' On one hand, I was glad to have him with me because this was a whole new adventure but on the other hand, I wanted to be able to prove myself.  
''Oh, it will be fun.'' Shane looked at his watch.  
''We are going to be late, speed up little girl.''  
I scowled at him and reminded him I didn't like being called little girl. Ignoring it as usual, he dragged me through the hallways, into one of the bigger meeting rooms they had.

Inside were ten people, I recognized only a couple of them. Dan, the boss, was here, so was his second hand man.  
I assumed the other people were colleagues who'd work the case with us. As we sat down, the boss asked everyone for silence and started introductions.  
''Welcome, everybody. I'm very excited to start this new operation.  
However, it is a very dangerous one and I want everybody to always be as careful as they can be.''  
Dan looked around the room, letting his words sink in.  
''As for introductions, sitting here to my right is Luka. He's in charge of this operation and will be directly reporting to me.''  
Luka was a very serious man. I'd never seen him smile since I've worked here.  
''Next to him sits Bert, the best tech guy in the world. He handles everything electronic."  
Bert gave a quick nod as to acknowledge Dan's point. He looked rather nervous and out of place.  
"Then there's Felicia.'' She was a rather perky blond woman who must get a lot of stares in this man's world. She didn't seem to mind that all eyes were now focused on her, some more intense than others.  
''Felicia is our counselor and will be reserved for this case only. She will be keeping tabs on everyone's state of mind through regular sessions. If anything traumatizing were to happen, she's the one who'll help you through it.''  
''I'm more than happy to help. I hope to speak to all of you very soon and that you'll feel comfortable talking to me.''  
As Felicia said this, she let her gaze linger longer on me than on the other men in the room. I immediately felt targeted. She surely was not here for only me, was she? It's not because I'm a woman that I'd have less control of my emotions than these men, is it?  
My thoughts were interrupted as Dan introduced the next person.  
''This is Kyle, he's the expert. He's followed this case for a while now and knows every little detail about it. He'll present the case later on.''  
Kyle had a very friendly smile. He didn't seem to be as rigid as some of the other agents here.  
Dan introduced the other five guys as Milo (an expert in criminal behavior), Stiles (a forensic scientist), Scott (a detective), Ezra (historian, why we needed him, I had no clue), Blue (for all the paperwork and insurance stuff) and Evan (for logistics).  
''Everybody knows Shane. He'll be partnering up with Elena, one of our freelance agents. Maybe, you'd like to say something about yourself, Elena?''  
I felt as if I were back in high school, presenting myself on the very first day of the year. All eyes were on me but it didn't matter. I was used to it. ''I'm Elena and I'm studying criminology. I…'' I wanted to continue but a couple of people raised their eyebrows and started whispering furiously. It was Felicia who had the balls – ironically – to say it out loud. "You are a student?''  
"Yes, I am."  
"Do you have any experience? Enough for such a high profile case?''  
"Isn't it too dangerous for such a young girl?''  
"How'd you get this case?''  
I decided I'd let them throw all their questions at me and I'd give them all the same answer at once.  
"I'm very young indeed. But that's apart from my professional life. As you can see here, '' I handed out papers I'd printed earlier, ''I've caught more people in those few years that I've worked as a bounty hunter than most do in their lifetime. I never have casualties and manage to live a life as a student as well. So, '' I finished, ''once you've decided from these numbers that you think I'm up to it, I'll be happy to answer any other questions.''  
I'd never expected the sheets of paper to be enough proof for them and I was right. But they were impressed, I could tell that much.  
''Right,'' Dan took over again, ''that's that. Kyle, the floor is all yours now.''  
Kyle had been closely studying my score sheet instead of paying attention. He looked up only to realize everyone was staring at him, waiting for him to start. ''Thank you, Dan. I'd like you all to look at the screen since I've had Bert make some handy visuals.'' Kyle gestured to a long white canvas hanging on the wall. He pressed a button on the beamer and a name appeared: ''Case: Rippers''.


	4. Chapter 4

After the presentation, Felicia came to talk to me.  
''Hi, I'm Felicia. I just wanted to introduce myself properly." She shook my hand and I smiled, just out of politeness.  
"Nice to meet you.'' I didn't know what else to say, it seemed obvious she knew my name.  
Felicia adjusted her glasses with one hand while she balanced a lot of papers on the other.  
"Do you mind if I scheduled a meeting for us, this week?''  
I was a little taken aback by the directness of her question but managed to mumble a 'sure, why not'.  
She must've seen my confusion, as she started to explain. ''It's nothing to worry about, just some routine check-up, is all.'' Felicia smiled the whole time, as if the world was made out of rainbows and puppy's. ''When are you available?'' She took out a pen and waited for me to answer.  
"School ends in one week. After that, I'm completely free.''  
Pleased with my answer, she started to write down a date on her hand. Yes, on her hand.  
She showed it to me to make sure I'd seen it where after we said our goodbyes.

Shane escorted me out of the building and once we were outside, I started to talk.  
"Felicia is…''  
"Hot?'' Shane was grinning. Ew. I raised my eyebrow at him, something he envied I could do.  
He shrugged. ''She's okay, trust me.''  
"I don't know, there's something about her.'' I thought out loud.  
"Don't start. According to you, there's something wrong with everyone.''  
"There is something wrong with everyone." I was completely convinced of that fact. Not always in a bad way though. It's just not normal if everything is normal. You know?

The week went by slowly but also very quickly. I was excited to start the new job because it was one of the biggest ones I'd ever accepted. The first meeting was only a week away from now and I couldn't wait. But first, I had to see Felicia and that was something I wasn't looking forward to.  
"Elena! I'm so glad you came.'' Felicia was even more chipper than last time.  
"Of course I came.'' I said confused. We had an appointment, hadn't we?  
Felicia waved her hand as if to say 'forgive me'.  
''It's just… Never mind. Shall we begin?'' Her smile grew even wider. It had the opposite effect on me, the brighter she smiled, the more annoyed I got. But I was polite and smiled back anyway. ''Before we really start, I first need your information. If you could fill this in.'' She handed me a sheet of paper that I quickly read over.  
''Why do you need all of this?''  
The questions were pretty basic, asking me for my address, social security number, career, health, relationships and so on. But why did she need to know?  
"It's just for administration. You know how strict the FBI can be sometimes.'' She shrugged as if she didn't care much for it. So I filled in without thinking much of it. After all, it was my first time on such a big mission and I couldn't screw it up.  
"So, tell me. Who are you?'' Felicia asked. She was sat in front of me, her legs crossed, pen and paper in her hands.  
"I'm sorry, I don't-" I started but she quickly cut me off with a big bright smile.  
"Just tell me how someone else would describe you to me."  
What did this have to do with the mission? I wasn't very comfortable talking about myself and I definitely didn't like it. But it seemed like Felicia was set on getting something out of me so I pushed myself to answer.  
"I'm very serious about my studies.'' I finally said. I knew this was not what she wanted to hear.  
"It's a good start. What else?'' Felicia quickly wrote something down before putting her pen back down.  
Well, shit. What would Shane say about me to someone else?  
"I'm an introvert?'' I wasn't comfortable with this, not at all.  
"Yes!" She practically shouted from happiness at my answer. So I guess this was more what she wanted to hear. "Good, very good.''  
She scribbled down something else. It went on like this for a while, she asking me to describe myself, me answering and her writing before asking something else again. She also asked about my relationship with others, with Shane, with friends, with relatives. I kept my answers as short and vague as possible. After a while, she seemed to realize I wasn't going to give away any more than I was comfortable with.  
''Let's call it a day, shall we?'' She finally put down her pen, after having filled almost 7 pages.  
For the first time, I genuinely smiled at her.  
"You did good today. I can tell you don't like this, but I can assure you it's a good thing.''  
I just nodded because I didn't know how to tell her in a friendly way that I absolutely hated this and couldn't stand her smile.  
"Thank you for trusting me. Let's schedule the next appointment, shall we?'' Felicia wrote the next date down, this time, in a real agenda instead of on her hand. I was happy to get out of there and met up with Shane after.  
"Have you had an appointment yet, with Felicia?'' I asked him. I knew he would hate it as much as I did. But he'd probably be much better at it.  
"No, why would I?''  
We were sitting on a bench in the park. Shane was on a stake out, hoping to catch a drug dealer.  
''I don't know. I've been today.'' I was drawing circles with one of my feet in the sand.  
We never look at each other when we talked. His eyes were constantly looking for any sign of the dealer and I was not someone to look people in the eyes.  
"Before the mission?''  
I hmm'ed. So as I'd suspected, it wasn't normal to talk to the shrink before a mission. But why had Felicia asked? Why did she seem to be so focused on me?


End file.
